RJ still a big part of Arizona basketball

It’s part of a ritual before athletic contests at many major colleges.

Before the team is introduced, great stars of the past flash on the message board to exhort fans with a statement of “This is (insert team name) (insert team sport).”

You can see it at Texas, where Colt McCoy, Tommy Nobis and Earl Campbell are flashed before football games at Royal Memorial Stadium. Or it could be Bob Stoops, Barry Switzer and Sam Bradford pop up before Oklahoma games.

Arizona’s basketball program has started a similar pregame tradition with storied former Wildcats appearing before the start of the game on the video screens at the McKale Center.

The Arizona Daily Star reports that current Spur Richard Jefferson is featured in a montage of video clips, along with former Wildcats Andre Iguodala, Jud Buechler, Channing Frye, Derrick Williams, Jason Terry, Miles Simon, Jerryd Bayless, Chase Budinger, Chris Mills, iconic former coach Lute Olson and current coach Sean Miller.

Jefferson’s place in the hearts and minds of all Arizona fans was secured after he donated $3.5 million to the athletic department in 2007 as the lead gift for the construction of the school’s new basketball and volleyball practice facility.

So it’s no real surprise that he would be so prominently featured.

One surprise in the choice of players to appear was that there was no mention of former Spurs Sean Elliott and Steve Kerr in the introductions.

Considering their status in the program’s history, it would seem that Tucson native Elliott and Kerr should rank only behind Olson in their importance to the program’s lore and history.